Til the Last Rose Wilts
by laurahonest
Summary: Harry finds some of his parents belongings. HG romance. Remus fills in the blanks. Read to find out more. This is just a oneshot.


Author: Laurahonest

Title: Til the Last Rose Wilts

Post Date: 3/11/07

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is just nice enough to let me play with her masterpiece.

Author's Note: This is a one shot I was playing around with around Valentine's Day. Read and review. Tell me if you like it, don't like it, or if you don't really care either way.

Harry Potter was sifting through the rubble of the house that used to belong to his parents. This was harder than he had imagined that it would be. He kept finding little trinkets that had belonged to his parents. These little items plagued him with questions. Who had given this knickknack to them? What was the story behind this thing or that? Why had they kept it? They were about to drive him mad. He finally decided to take everything to Remus Lupin and ask him about everything. Harry conjured up a box and started putting things into it. In no time at all, the box was full, he decided to apparate home with it.

Harry put the box down and looked around for more empty boxes. He and Ron had just moved into the flat so there were plenty of empty boxes around. Harry scribbled a little note to Ron then apparated back to Godric's Hollow. Harry dug around in the rubble filling up boxes until he couldn't see the light was gone. With a flick of his wand the boxes disappeared. Harry stood in the ruins for a minute longer then apparated back to the flat.

Ron was sitting on the couch watching muggle television. Harry had bought a set and Ron had quickly become addicted. He barely moved when a giant stack of boxes appeared in the room. Harry materialized in between him and the TV, which got his attention. "Got your note," he mumbled as he craned his neck to see around Harry.

"I found a whole lot," Harry said, "I just wish I knew the stories behind them. I am going to see Remus in the morning to ask him." Harry walked over to the pile and opened the first box. "I should probably pick out a few things at first; I think he would be overwhelmed if I took the lot of it on the first day. I should check to see if he will have time to talk to me tomorrow." Harry got up and walked over to the fireplace. He grabbed the floo powder and knelt down. Harry tossed a bit of powder in the grate and said Remus' address. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut against the swirling ashes and rising nausea until his head was still. Remus was not in the living room. "Remus," Harry called loudly, "Remus." He smiled as Remus came in from the other room. "Hello Remus. Sorry to bother you. I was just hoping that if you weren't to busy tomorrow that you might have a little bit of time to talk with me. You see I have been searching through the rubble at Godric's Hollow and I found a few items of my mum and dad's that I hoped you might know the stories behind."

Remus looked slightly surprised by this speech. "Of course Harry," he replied, "come by around 5 o'clock and we will have a bit of supper while we talk."

"Thank you Remus," Harry said excitedly, "I'll see you then"

"Goodbye Harry," Remus said just before Harry took his head out of the fire.

Back is his own flat Harry stood up and brushed off his knees. He walked over the stack of boxes and started to sort through it. He looked for the most interesting articles and put them in a separate pile. After about an hour he stopped and looked at what he had chosen. Harry reviewed the items in the pile: a white gold or silver necklace with an opal, an emerald, a ruby, and a sapphire; a cloth long stem rose; a golden lion tie pin; a small book that resisted him when he tried to open it; and a little wooden stag with a lily carved into it's flank. He gathered these up and put them in a small box on the counter. Harry walked over the TV set and switched it off. Ron had fallen asleep watching it again. He levitated Ron into bed then walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth before falling into his own bed.

Sleep evaded him though, he tossed and turned and thought about all of the things he had found that day. Some of it was obvious, like his mum's wand and his dad's golden snitch. Some of it wasn't as easy to figure out. The cloth rose had a note attached but the ashes had made it impossible to read. Hermione would know a spell or a charm that would make it legible. He would call her in the morning. Finally he fell into a restless sleep. He woke up to his alarm the next morning and stumbled into the shower. While he was standing there in the hot water he woke up the rest of the way and remembered the boxes of stuff that he had found.

Harry rushed through the rest of his shower, dried off and dressed in a hurry. He rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the muggle phone and called Hermione, hoping that she was still home. He was about to give up and hang up when she answered.

"Hello?" came Hermione's voice.

"Hello Hermione, it's Harry," he said.

"Oh, hello Harry" came the cheerful reply, "up a bit early aren't you?"

"Yes, I was hoping to catch you before you left for work," he replied. "Would you meet me for lunch today at the Leaky Cauldron? I need your help with something."

"Of course, Harry. How about 11:30?" she asked.

"Perfect, see you then," he said.

"Bye then Harry," she said before hanging up.

Hermione wondered what he could possibly need as she gathered her things and left the flat. No answer came to her as she walked down the street to the little muggle bookstore where she worked part-time. She unlocked the door with her key, turned the sign to open the store then went to prepare the register for the day's sales. When this was all done she walked around the store tidying up a bit from the day before. The little bell over the door jingled. Hermione looked up to see Ron standing there with a cup of coffee and a bagel for her. Ron had no idea what Harry wanted. After he left she settled in with a book and waited for customers. A few came in and browsed, by 10 she had helped a few people and business was starting to pick up. The other salesgirl came in at 10 and things started to settle down. At 11:30 Hermione left for lunch. She walked out the back door down the alley a bit and after making sure no one was watching, she apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry was already there waiting when she walked in. She walked over to his table and sat down. Harry greeted her warmly and they exchanged some small talk while Tom shuffled over and took their order. Once their food arrived Harry brought up the real reason he had wanted to meet her. He pulled a cloth rose out of his coat and handed it to her.

"I found this in the rubble at my parent's old house. I can't read the note, I was hoping that you might know a spell or a charm that could clear up the paper and reveal the words" Harry explained.

Hermione took the rose and turned it over in her hands for a few minutes as she looked at it. She scrutinized the note and thought for a few minutes. Finally she looked up at him. "I know which spell to use," she said confidently. "Would you like me to use it?"

"Yes, please Hermione," Harry replied.

Hermione flicked her wand and muttered an incantation. The parchment gradually became cleaner until the words were clearly visible. As soon as the spell had worked completely she handed the parchment to Harry. He took a deep breath and looked at it.

_I will love you until this rose wilts and dies._

"What does it mean?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione answered, "but Remus might. If it belonged to your parents and not someone else who left it in the rubble for some reason."

"It would have been a wizard, the muggle repelling charms were still active," Harry reasoned. "I will ask Remus about it tonight, I am meeting him for supper."

They passed the rest of their meal in other conversations and the Hermione had to go back to work. Harry went on about his business as well. At 4:30 he went home, cleaned up and got ready for supper with Remus. At 5 Harry apparated to Remus' flat and knocked on the door. Remus answered the door and welcomed Harry in. "Harry, come in. Let's eat while it is warm and then we'll have a look at what you found," he said.

"Thank you Remus," Harry answered, "I am starved."

Harry set his box down in the living room. They went to the kitchen and settled in at the table for the dinner that Remus had made. They ate quickly, making small talk through the meal. When they were done, they took tea to the living room and Harry started to pull things out of the box. First he handed Remus the tie pin.

"Your dad's parents got him that for Christmas during first year. They bought them for all of us. I still have mine," Remus explained.

"So there may be another one at Sirius house too?" asked Harry.

"Maybe," replied Remus, "but I wouldn't count on it. His parents may have gotten rid of it while he was in Azkaban."

Next Harry handed him the necklace.

Remus stared at it for a minute. "That is the necklace that your dad bought your mum for Christmas the year that they started dating. I helped your dad pick it out," Remus reminisced. "She liked it so much. She rarely took it off. Sirius always teased your dad that it was because of the necklace that she finally agreed to date him."

"Is it silver or white gold?" queried Harry.

"White gold," Remus responded after a pause. "Your father never bought silver after he discovered my secret."

"Oh," said Harry flatly. Silence reigned the room as each got lost in their own thoughts.

"Well," Remus said as he pulled himself out of his thoughts, "what else did you find?" Harry silently handed him the wooden stag. "Oh, this survived," he said with a hint of surprise. "I wonder if it still works? Harry, breathe on its face." Remus held the stag out to Harry. He took it and held it flat on his palm as he gently breathed on the stag's little wooden face. For a minute nothing happened and then the wood slowly started to change shape. Harry stared at it as it slowly changed from a carved stag to a carving of his mum and dad holding hands. "Now blow on their hands," instructed Remus. Harry did and slowly the carving transformed back into a stag. "Sirius carved that one and 3 three others, one of each of us. I put the charms on them that make them change. We made them for you. When you had more than one together they would interact with each other," explained Remus.

"I think I remember those," said Harry. "I had the dog all along. I used to play with it in my cupboard at the Dursley's. I must have forgotten how to activate it though. It was the only toy I had that wasn't a broken cast away of Dudley's."

"Well, Sirius was the first person on the scene after the attack. He may have found it and given it to you before Hagrid got there," Remus theorized. "What else did you find?"

Harry pulled the little book out of the box and handed it to Remus. He looked at it for a minute then got up and left the room. When he came back he was holding another book just like it, an ink pot and two quills. "We passed notes with these. See the cover is green. When someone sent a note it slowly turned blue if the cover was closed. We used the _'Alohamora'_ spell to activate them. No one ever figured it out." Remus handed the first one back to Harry and opened his. He scribbled a note in it. Harry watched in awe as the cover of his notebook slowly changed colors. Then he opened the book using the spell that Remus had told him to and there on the very first page in Remus' handwriting were the words '_Hello Harry.' _Remus handed him the other quill and said "Go ahead, try it out." Harry took the quill and wrote _'hello Remus' _on the page. He watched in awe as Remus' next note appeared on his notebook one word at a time.

"You guys had a lot of ways of communicating with each other over distances," Harry said. "Did all four of you have these?"

"Yes, but when Peter was supposedly killed I destroyed his and Sirius' so that no one could get their hands on them. I was never able to find your dad's to destroy it," Remus answered.

"Then it is safe for you and me to use these to communicate?" Harry asked.

"Yes, it is. We can use them all we want. Close it and reopen it." Harry did as he was told. "Look at it. The words disappear after it is closed, and if anyone but your dad held it no new messages could appear, but it seems that since you are his son, the book recognizes you and it will allow you to use it," Remus explained.

"That is amazing!" exclaimed Harry. "I have one more thing with me tonight but I found quite a bit more. I thought that we could go through those things later. These seemed the most important somehow." Harry handed Remus the rose. "The note was illegible earlier but Hermione cleaned it up at lunch today."

"Well this requires a story," Remus replied as he looked at the rose. "It was the first Valentine's Day after your parents started to date...

"At breakfast on Valentine's Day at exactly 8 o'clock an owl flew in with a single red rose for Lily. The note simply said _'To: Lily Love, James'_ Lily gave James a kiss on the cheek and whispered "Thank you" as she got up to go to her first class. Lily conjured up a small bag of water around the stem of the rose to keep it fresh.

"At 9 o'clock just as Professor McGonagall was ready to start Transfiguration another owl flew in with another single red rose for Lily with another note _'To: Lily Love, James'_. McGonagall ignored the owl and started class as Lily slid this rose in with the first one. At 10 o'clock another owl flew in with another rose and the same note _'To: Lily Love, James'. _Another came at 11 o'clock as well. At noon Lily was sitting down to lunch when a fifth owl came in with the same rose and note_ 'To: Lily Love, James'. _Lily took the roses up to her room and conjured a vase for them up there. The same thing happened at one and two and every hour until 7 o'clock that evening. Lily had put all six of the other roses in the vase with the first five.

"At seven the Great Hall was full of students eating supper. The twelfth owl of the day came in with what Lily thought that it would be the last rose to complete the dozen. The owl landed on the table and Lily took the rose that it held. She was slightly surprised to find that it was fake. It was a cloth rose that looked incredibly real. She looked at the note expecting to see the same simple message that had been on the others. She was wrong. This note said 'I_ will love you until this rose wilts and dies.' _Lily's eyes were huge. Marlene shook her.

"Lily what is it?" she asked. Lily handed the rose to Marlene so that she could read the note. "Aww that is so romantic!" she squealed, "James where did you get such a good idea?"

"James just smiled and said nothing."

"Two years later," Remus said, "when James and Lily got married that rose was in the center of her bouquet. She took it out before she threw it. Every time they moved the first thing that she did was unpack that and put it in a small vase." Remus paused for a moment. He seemed deep in thought. "When they bought that house in Godric's Hollow they were certain that they would never move again. Your mother put it out on the counter and said _'it is in it's last home'_"

Harry sighed and thought for a minute. "Remus," he said hesitantly, "do you remember what the vase looked like? Could you conjure a new one up?"

"Yes," Remus said, "I think I could." He sat there thinking for a few minutes then he swished his wand and a vase appeared on the table. "That is what it looked like."

Harry reached over and gently placed the rose in the vase. "I am going to rebuild that house," declared Harry. "They were happy there, this rose belongs there and so do I. Will you help me rebuild it like it was when they lived there?"

Remus thought for a minute. "I will help you Harry," Remus agreed, "but some of it you should build for yourself. You can't live in a shrine to your parents, and you can't expect Ginny to either."

"No, you are right," Harry conceded, "the three of us will sit down and make plans to rebuild it, with some the way it was and some in a new way."

The next day was Valentine's Day. Harry met Ginny at the Burrow and took her out for dinner. While they were eating dessert Harry pulled a jewelry box out of his coat and handed it to Ginny. "Oh Harry!" she exclaimed as she opened it and saw the necklace inside, "It is beautiful."

Harry stood up and walked around the table to put it on her neck. "It was my mother's," he explained. "I found it out at Godric's Hollow. Remus told me about it. I want you to have it."

"That is sweet Harry," Ginny replied, she was hoping that this meant their relationship was moving forward. He did give her his mother's necklace. He had so little that had belonged to his parents. His voice brought her out of her thoughts. Harry was kneeling in front of her.

"I have another present for you," he said as he pulled another small box out of his pocket. "This one is conditional though. Ginny will you marry me?"

"Harry," she gasped, "of course I will!"

"Then this is your other present," he said as he pulled a sparkling diamond ring out of the box and slid it on her hand. "This is brand new; I picked it out just for you, if you don't like we can pick a new one together."

"It is perfect Harry," Ginny said reassuringly. She stood up and hugged him. "I love you Harry Potter."

"I love you too Ginny Weasley," Harry said before catching her up in a hug and a kiss.


End file.
